Is your circuit suffering from power drops or surging? Do you want to expand your track or need to upgrade your current power supply and hand controllers? If so, here is our expert guide to improving and upgrading your circuits power and power supply.

Upgrading your Hand Controllers

The first step to improve your circuit is to upgrade your hand controllers. The standard hand controllers that are supplied with most racing sets are very basic, and don’t offer very much control over the car. You may notice that the controllers are not responsive enough and only work on the last 50 percent of the controller trigger. The standard controllers usually behave more like an on/off switch, meaning the car is not very enjoyable to drive.

Upgrading from a standard set hand controller to the DS Hand controller will result in improved car control and better overall driving experience.

The DS hand controllers offer a smooth linear power delivery right across the throttle stroke, meaning you have total control of the car at all times.

Track Power Loss - The Possible causes

Before deciding whether or not you need to upgrade your power supply, first check that the cars and track are in good working order. If your track is raced on regularly the rails and track surface probably doesn't need too much cleaning, maybe just a few laps with a car to clean it up removing dust and contaminates that settle on the track while unused.

Make sure your cars braids are in good condition and are clean, we recommend using the PSR braid cleaner.

If the circuit has not been raced on for a while it may need a quick clean. We recommend cleaning the track rails. Simply use a lightly oiled cloth with PSR braid cleaner and wipe the track rails to remove dirt from the surface, this will improve car pickup around your track. If your rails have tarnished or gone dull it may be appropriate to use a Track Rail Rubber.

The track surface may also need to be cleaned as dust can build up and reduce the grip level. You can simply use a cloth to wipe clean or a few laps driving a car around the circuit will help to clean the rails and surface.

It is possible to improve the power consistency around track by adding power taps. These are basically wires that are links from rails near the powerbase to other track pieces that are positioned further away from the powerbase. Generally you only need to use this method on larger or older circuits.

Upgrading your power supply

Still suffering from power drops & surging? Want to expand your track circuit and your current power supply isn't up to the job?

When buying a racing set the power supply is usually fixed between 12v-18v with a very low amp rating of around 800ma up to 1300ma. Most current models fitted with strong magnets require around 800ma to get them to move from a standing start which means both cars end up fighting over the amps that are available. We normally recommend at least 1 - 1.5 amps per car.

To upgrade and improve the power and drivability of your circuit simply replace your standard power supply and powerbase with one of the transformers available through our website. We have various options available which are ideal for powering small, medium or large slot racing tracks for your home or club circuit. You can choose from fixed voltage or variable voltage transformers depending on your needs.

For instance if you have mixed abilities and small children using your circuit then choosing a variable voltage transformer is a must as it gives you the option to reduce the power supplied to the circuit making it more driveable for young or inexperienced users.

When you replace your power supply we also recommend that you remove the existing standard powerbase from the circuit as this can restrict the performance your newly purchased transformer. However we are able make and supply wiring looms to connect the power supplies to all types of home or club tracks including analogue and digital circuits. Used in conjunction with DS we can also offer a range of lap counting systems.

Setup Examples

Track power and hand controller setup examples.

Basic/standard track setupPower is fed through powerbase - PCB limits the power available to the track. As the car is further away from the powerbase it increases the amps drawn which then results in power drops.